A trolley is a hanger-suspending device used in a garment bag for suspending the hangers and the clothes on the hanger from a top central location within the garment bag. Usually trolleys and the hangers which are suspended therefrom are of special configurations to mate with one another. The special hangers generally have a very short, a nonexisting, or pivoting neck in order to place the shoulders of the garments on the hangers very near the top of the garment bag. With the shoulder position near to the top of the bag, less space in the corners and along the top of the bag is wasted.
Users must transfer their clothes from the typical clothes hanger having a relatively long neck on to the special garment bag hangers in order to use the garment bag. One of the significant disadvantages of this arrangement, other than the inconvenience of changing hangers, is that the capacity for packing clothes is generally limited by the number of hangers supplied with the garment bag.
Many of the conventional trolley and special hanger combinations are ineffective in preventing the hangers from coming loose from the trolley, particularly when the garment bag is of the type used in traveling which is folded into a suitcase-like configuration. When the garment bag is folded into the suitcase like configuration, the upper portions of the clothes become inverted. The weight of the clothes tends to pull them away from the inverted hanger. The clothes usually become wrinkled when they fall off of the hangers or when the hangers become loose from the trolley and fall off.
Although not in widespread use, trolleys which have the capability for locking conventional garment hangers within a garment bag are known. Such prior locking trolleys, however, are difficult and awkward to use, or are not adapted for use with traveling garment bags. The pivoted jaw portions of such trolleys are connected to the sides of the garment bag to grasp the necks of conventional hangers extending out of the bag, or the clamping jaw is freely pivoted and is incapable of supporting the hanger from its hook-shaped end without first locking the trolley. Users must lock each hanger into the trolley to prevent all of the garments from falling. This is a substantial disadvantage when packing the garment bag because the trolley must be locked and unlocked each time a new hanger and garment is added.
Furthermore, the locking mechanism of such prior locking trolleys is inconvenient for single handed operation. Locking the prior locking trolley requires alignment of a locking bail and manipulation of a locking handle. Since the user is holding the garments on the hangers in one hand, aligning the bail and manipulating the locking handle is difficult to accomplish with only the other hand. This difficulty is particularly aggravated if the user must also support the weight of all the previously packed garments to prevent them from falling each time the trolley is unlocked and locked to pack another garment.
Another disadvantage inherent in many previous trolleys is a tendency for the hooked end of the hangers to move from between the pivoted jaw portions as a result of vibration during transportation. The hangers may tend to collect or bunch together or may fall off of the trolley. The garments on the hangers may become wrinkled when the hangers become disoriented, or fall from the trolley into the garment bag.